Green Smoothie from the Garden

Kale, basil, pear, a small wedge of banana, a small slice of apple, and four almonds.

The first three ingredients I picked right before I made the green smoothie.

It tastes so fresh! I really like the texture the almonds give it—kind of gritty, distinctly nutty.

The basil gives this subtle nuance that is nice with the almonds.

The kale, for me, is the best part. I've been eating off that one plant all week. I really need to get several more. It's worth the money!

Mmm… this isn't the kind of smoothie you drink in great big gulps, nor from huge containers. It goes into a coffee cup, and is all the indulgence of coffee plus tons more nutrition.

I was really hungry, but this hits the spot.

(hums contentedly)

Quick Salad Recipe

There's lots of Korean wild sesame leaves in the refrigerator to my delight, so here's another idea for them.

Kale

Avocado

Sea salt

Lime

Black pepper

Wild sesame leaves

Basil

Romaine lettuce

Tomato

Cut the kale into small pieces and massage with the avocado and sea salt. Use only as much avocado is needed to cover the kale leaves. For me, this was around ¼ of an avocado. Season with lime and black pepper, adding in diced sesame leaves and basil. You can stop here, but I wanted to use up my romaine lettuce (it gave the salad a nice crunch) and I like tomato in general.

My dad, who is a secret vegetable-hater, said this salad was delicious. Lots of flavor, little oil or fat.

Sandwiches

I learned how not to make sandwiches from my mom. She used to pack these monstrous creations slathered with various spreads and covered in strange meats and cheeses that I rarely took more than two bites of (one bite to penetrate the crust of the sandwich, a second to test the true innards). My dad had the same problem, so we teamed up and put our feet down (which is something rare in our household). My mom was considerably annoyed and hurt that we didn't appreciate the work she did in compiling the ingredients, but she complied. That, we were very appreciative of.

(I should write that my mom is now a marvelous cook as a result of all those experiments with sandwiches, pies, tarts, noodles, and etc. Very rarely do we complain that something is unsavory. On the contrary, our family never eats out, and when we do, we usually complain after the meal. Our taste buds have been finely attuned to pretty high standards. I actually should hope so seeing that several relatives own restaurants famous for their longevity and tasty treats.)

The life lesson I took away from it all? Simpler is better.

The day I was finally given somewhat free range of the kitchen, I made a sandwich. And it was so good, that I made my mom one. And my mom (who rarely has much positive to say about my cooking) said it was so good that I was told to make my dad one. My mom has not complained once about a sandwich I made. Recently, I heard her scolding my aunt for not eating my sandwich while it was hot, saying it was such a pity because it was that good.

I've been trying variations this past week on my basic sandwich recipe, and they've all turned out pretty well. Something I absolutely despise in a sandwich bought in a shop is the massive amounts of cheese and meat they put. There are better means of bringing out the flavor of cheese and meat without mass-piling them on.

(To meat-eaters of contrary opinion: Check out the rest of this blog. You'll see that I'm more with the vegetarians, rather than the carnivores. Meat also makes me feel nauseous sometimes because it makes my stomach feel acidic. So sorry about offending you, but I hope it's understandable why I don't like meat as much as you.)

I usually have only one slice of cheese and at most two paper-thin slices of meat in a sandwich. My favorite thing to do is to toast a sandwich with a slice of cheese and an uber thick slice of tomato cradled between two slices of meat until the cheese melts and the tomato skin starts becoming wrinkly. Then, I add in tons of salad greens. Not iceberg, but something more flavorful. This morning, I tried Korean perilla on an open-sided sandwich made with a whole wheat English muffin. The perilla was so interesting that I ate only the leaf on the other side of my English muffin. I'm going to try it with kale next.

I also like caramelizing onion on the stove, letting it cool, and eating it on bread with some seasoning. It's time consuming, though, so I don't do it often.

My favorite sandwich is still tomato with a slice of cheese on bread J because I am a tomato fiend (as well as a tea and chocolate fiend)!

Living on Kale and other local foods

I discovered a great thing today: kale, sold living in pots. Gorgeous, purple-tinted kale that can last me until the first frost. If I had only that one plant, it would probably cover my vegetable needs for close to a week. And what a joy! They fixed the balcony at my school apartment so it's no longer rickety and dangerous to put stuff on it. I'll be buying myself more farmer's market kale next Saturday. We'll see how long I can make it last at school on the balcony. And there's a farmer's market at school, so we'll see if my locavore experiment at school will work. I'm also planting wheatgrass and various sprouts, which has been successful this past month, so I may get farther than you think I will…

I like living at school and conducting my little experiments. Makes me feel like I'm actually becoming self-sufficient (when actually everything in my experimentation is funded by my parents).

I'm discovering (or rather, rediscovering, as I wasn't the one who came up with this idea in the first place) the joys of wrapping things up in leaves to eat. Romaine lettuce—I can't take it unrolled, but somehow when it's rolled up, the flavors and textures condense, and it suddenly doesn't seem so grassy or bitter. And super sweet fruit? Too sweet on its own, but marvelous with leaves. I'm trying out rolling stuff up in what Koreans call wild sesame leaf, but is actually a kind of perilla (that tastes different from the Japanese shiso). It has such an intense, interesting sesame flavor that I really don't know where to begin. I tried it with cantaloupe (bad food combining, I know), but both flavours were rather too strong and the overall effect was pleasant, but strange. I'm thinking that it might go well with slightly under-ripe bananas. Maybe a little heat to caramelize the banana's sugar might combine the two flavors together.

The reason for this sudden epiphany? Well, during the past year I've been noticing that I don't get hunger sensations or signals that I'm full until I start throwing up what I eat because I'm too full. My aunt massaged my back In a particular place that I always have to stretch to crack. I knew that the muscle there was too tight, but had no way to release the tension until she massaged it. It turns out that it was affecting my nerve signals, and now I can actually control cravings and tell if I'm hungry. It might seem normal to some of you, but this is nearly miraculous to me. I'm losing weight because of this. It was probably also a factor in my gaining weight. Actually, this particular problem in my spine was magnified because of my poor posture during studying in college, so I'm taking care to maintain good posture now.

The new Wii Fit game is a life-saver in this. Because of my scoliosis, I know where muscles are wrong, but I don't have any cues about how to fix them. Previously, to fix them, I would've had to spent much time in front of a 360-degree mirror. Now, the Wii Balance Board tells me which muscles (in front, back, left, right) are wrong by showing me where my center of balance is, and immediately I can pinpoint where it is and fix it. My posture is now noticeably better. I never thought this would happen.

Avocado Dip with Kale

Grab a mortar and pestle! Or if you're not into manual fun (labor), grab a food processor. And also a lovely kale plant that you got from the farmer's market that will keep giving and growing until winter J

4 cloves of garlic

Red hot pepper (according to your taste)

Basil (however much you want)

1 avocado

Olive oil (depends on how smooth you want it)

Juice of half a lime

Salt and pepper

Kale

Grind the garlic and red hot pepper together until it forms a nice slurry. You might need some olive oil to make it smoother. Roll several leaves of basil together and chop into small pieces. Throw it into the slurry. Once it's incorporated enough, add the avocado and olive oil gradually while you grind the mixture to your desired smoothness. Sprinkle some lime for tartness and to prevent discoloration. Taste and then season with salt and pepper. Finally, grab a kale leaf and spread the dip on thinly. Roll up and enjoy!

My favorite thing about this is that the kale is really crunchy enough to act like a chip and balances the intense flavor of the avocado dip.

Credit for the dip goes to my mom.